China's independently developed ARJ21 regional jetliner has welcomed its 10 millionth passenger on Friday since its entry into commercial service in 2016.

The ARJ21, or Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century, hit the milestone of meeting the threshold of safely carrying 10 million passengers over the past seven years, with the flight carrying 81 passengers from Guangzhou to Jieyang in south China's Guangdong Province.

Since the jetliner formally went into commercial operation, 117 aircraft have been delivered to Chinese and foreign airlines.

It has opened over 400 domestic and international routes to more than 140 cities and started overseas service in Indonesia.

Multiple derivatives are developing to adapt to the needs of different domestic aviation markets, according to its developer, such as jets for business, medical and emergency rescue aviation, according to the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC).

In October, the first two air freighters converted from ARJ21 passenger planes were delivered, marking a milestone in the jetliner's conversion program.